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Monday, June 12, 2017

Have You Met Bon Bon? by Cindy Flores Martinez

Bon Bon is an adorable but mischievous
Yorkshire terrier in my latest story, Moonstone Beach. His owner, Becky, leaves
him in the care of her co-worker, Grace, who already promised her best friend
that she would be the bridesmaid in her wedding in Cambria, California. Grace has no choice but to take Bon Bon with her. Within minutes of
arriving in Cambria, he gets lost, and Grace’s high school crush, Luke, helps
her search for him. Will they ever find him?

Here’s an excerpt from Moonstone Beach:

By the time we finished our search and
arrived back at his office building, we still hadn’t found Bon Bon, and I felt
torn up inside. I sat in my seat and stared out at nothing through the
windshield of my car. “I don’t understand where he could have gone. I just
don’t get it.” I brushed my hands across my face and dropped them on my lap.
“Do you think somebody has him? Do you think that’s why we can’t find him?”

Luke shrugged as if he didn’t know what to
say. He seemed as much at a loss as me.

“What if someone does have him, and they’ve
decided to keep him?” I asked. “He’s such an adorable dog. He looked so cute in
his sweater and bow today.” My voice cracked, and I lowered my head, the
emotions seizing me.

Luke reached out and placed his hand over
mine.

The feeling of his touch made my world stand
still. In all the years I had known him, I could not remember him ever touching
me that way.

“Let’s not let our imaginations run wild,” he
said. “We don’t know if that’s what happened. Maybe somebody did find him, and
they don’t know what to do with him. Does the dog tag on his collar have a name
and phone number on it in case he gets lost? I noticed he had a dog tag.”

“Yes,” I said. “And he also has a microchip
with Becky’s information on it.” The warmth of Luke’s touch was all I could
think about. The sensation of his skin against mine soothed me. My hand had
felt so cold. And to be honest, it had been a long time since anyone had
touched me that way. I hadn’t realized just how much I had missed it until that
moment.

Up ahead, a dog that looked like Bon Bon came
into view, catching my attention from the corner of my eye. I watched it turn
on the street from a parking lot and trot down the sidewalk in the opposite
direction from us. A woman followed behind him.

“Bon Bon!” I said. “I think I see him!” As
much as I wanted to stay there with Luke, I pulled my hand away, pushed the
door open, and jumped outside. I raced toward the dog, which disappeared behind
a parked car. “Bon Bon!” I stumbled around and stopped, my desperate stare
scouring the small animal that had turned to look at me. In an instant, my
heart sank. It wasn’t Bon Bon. Although it had resembled him from a distance, I
could see up close that it was a different breed.

“Hello,” said the woman who was with him.
“Can I help you with something?”

“Have you seen a small dog around here that
looks like he’s lost? He’s a Yorkie. A Yorkshire terrier. His fur is tan and
dark brown, and he’s wearing a pink sweater.”

“I’ve been inside my home all day. I haven’t
seen him.”

I felt as if I could cry, as if I could lie
down on the ground right where I stood and weep to no end. “Okay. Thanks.”

“I hope you find him,” she said.

I mustered a smile, turned, and made my way
back to the car, my shoulders hunched over from the weight of hopelessness that
now rested on them. How could I have done this? How could I have lost Becky’s
dog? Bon Bon meant everything to her. She had trusted me with him. Why hadn’t I
held him tighter when he was in my arms? Why hadn’t I clung to his leash? I
would never forgive myself if he was gone forever.

Luke waited outside, watching me with a
pained expression.

I stopped beside him with my head bowed, the
defeat consuming me.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a tender voice.
“Everything will be all right.”

His comforting words and demeanor made me
want to cry even more than I already did. I had to fight hard to hold back the
tears.

“Why don’t you come inside the office and
rest?” he said. “You must be tired. Have you had lunch?”

I shook my head, unable to speak from the
emotion that gripped my throat.

“You can park your car in the lot behind the
building and meet me here in front.”

I longed to wrap my arms around him, bury my
face in his chest, and find solace in his embrace. Instead, I stepped away, got
in my car, parked it where he had told me, and made my way to where he waited.

Cindy Flores Martinez
is a USA
Today bestselling author. She writes sweet, Christian and Spanish romance. She
has an MFA in Creative Writing
with an emphasis in Screenwriting. Her debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, started
as a screenplay and movie project, which she shopped around Hollywood,
New York, and other parts of
the world. You can learn more about her at www.cindyfloresmartinez.com